--- title: Study: Oysters May Transmit Norovirus to Humans description: Oysters might serve as a place for the virus to mutate canonical: https://time.com/4025028/oyster-norovirus/ author: Tanya Basu article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-08T16:47:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:45:23.425Z article:section: Health og:title: Oysters Linked to Norovirus That Causes Stomach Flu, Study Finds og:description: A study shows the virus might mutate while in oysters og:url: https://time.com/4025028/oyster-norovirus/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320ef76e38c358cd/6988629135ba6fcc71c0f0e2/oysters.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Oysters og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Oysters Linked to Norovirus That Causes Stomach Flu, Study Finds twitter:description: A study shows the virus might mutate while in oysters twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320ef76e38c358cd/6988629135ba6fcc71c0f0e2/oysters.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Oysters Linked to Norovirus That Causes Stomach Flu, Study Finds  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Sep 8, 2015 4:47 PM UTC  Studio shot of oysters Studio shot of oystersJamie Grill—Getty Images/Tetra images RF  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Sep 8, 2015 4:47 PM UTC You might want to pass on the oysters at your next happy hour: the bivalves can bring on norovirus, otherwise known as the stomach flu, according to a new study. The [study](http://aem.asm.org/content/early/2015/08/17/AEM.01729-15.abstract), published last month in the journal _Applied and Environmental Microbiology_, looked at the DNA of 1,077 samples of norovirus in oysters. The results: 80% of documented human noroviruses saw a match in the oysters, most of which were found along coasts contaminated by human sewage. More unsettling, oysters act as a incubator for the virus to mutate between outbreaks. Raw oysters seem to be especially dangerous transmitters. Norovirus is the cause of one stomach flu, one of the world’s most common illnesses. Highly infectious and often painful, the virus can debilitate a victim for a few days but can be fatal in infants, older adults and others with sensitive immune systems. Norovirus has been traced to people who work with food not washing their hands, and a [“vomiting machine”](http://time.com/4003121/vomiting-machine-norovirus/) designed recently by scientists at North Carolina State illustrated that droplets of infected vomit can also fly through the air and infect people the way a sneeze or cough might. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4025028/oyster-norovirus/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4025028/oyster-norovirus/"},"headline":"Oysters Linked to Norovirus That Causes Stomach Flu, Study Finds","datePublished":"2015-09-08T16:47:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:45:23.425Z","description":"A study shows that oysters may harbor the virus while it mutates","url":"https://time.com/4025028/oyster-norovirus/","keywords":["Public Health","Research","norovirus"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320ef76e38c358cd/6988629135ba6fcc71c0f0e2/oysters.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanya Basu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320ef76e38c358cd/6988629135ba6fcc71c0f0e2/oysters.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Oysters","caption":"Oysters","creditText":"Jamie Grill—Getty Images/Tetra images RF","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4025028/oyster-norovirus/","name":"Oysters Linked to Norovirus That Causes Stomach Flu, Study Finds"}}]}] ```